Free Blacks and Slaveholders in the AlexandriaPersonal Property Tax Assessments of 1800

The 1800 tax assessments are similar in format to those of 1787-1790, including the fact that free African American "tithables" or heads of household are identified. Unlike the earlier assessments, those for 1800 explicitly account for the number of slavesas opposed to "negroes"in households.

Each of the free African Americans below were assessed only for the standard capitation or "head" tax, indicating that they did not possess an appreciable amount of personal property, such as horses, cows, watches, carts, or silver. Details about the slaveowners extraneous to the present purpose (such as numbers of white members of the household and personal property such as carriages) have been excluded. Thus, the tabular format of the original document has been simplified, and the remaining information may speak for itself. Keep in mind that some owners may have owned slaves who resided in other places, such as Washington, D.C. or farms in northern Virginia.

While most African Americans in town are not identified by name, this source has a value similar to the slave schedules of the federal censuses of 1850 and 1860. For one thing, the entries can provide statistical information. Also, used in conjunction with other sources, such as wills, deeds of sale and trust, manumissions, etc., these personal property records can help trace ancestors (particularly if the researcher can trace his or her ancestor to an individual owner and finds that that owner possesses only one slave).

A number of surnames have been "corrected" to their more common or preferred spellings, based on other contemporary sources. Tim Dennee